Argentina

=== Rise of the modern nation ===
{{Main|List of Presidents of Argentina|Generation of '80|Infamous Decade}}
{{See also|Argentine–Chilean naval arms race|South American dreadnought race}}
[[File:25 de mayo por F. Fortuny.jpg|thumb|People gathered in front of the [[Buenos Aires Cabildo]] during the [[May Revolution]]|alt=]]
[[File:Italian immigrants buenos aires.jpg|thumb|Immigrants [[Italian Argentines|from Italy]] arriving in Buenos Aires, during the [[great European immigration wave to Argentina]]]]
Overpowering Urquiza in the 1861 [[Battle of Pavón]], [[Bartolomé Mitre]] secured Buenos Aires' predominance and was elected as the first president of the reunified country. He was followed by [[Domingo Faustino Sarmiento]] and [[Nicolás Avellaneda]]; these three presidencies set up the basis of the modern Argentine State.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|loc=vol. I|pp=363–541}}

Starting with [[Julio Argentino Roca]] in 1880, ten consecutive federal governments emphasized [[economic liberalism|liberal economic policies]]. The [[Immigration in Argentina|massive wave of European immigration]] they promoted—second only to the United States'—led to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy that by 1908 had placed the country as the seventh wealthiest{{sfn|Bolt|Van Zanden|2013}} developed nation{{sfn|Díaz Alejandro|1970|p=1}} in the world. Driven by this [[immigration]] wave and decreasing mortality, the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold:{{sfn|Lewis|1990|pp=18–30}} from 1870 to 1910, Argentina's [[wheat]] exports went from {{convert|100000|to|2500000|MT|ST|abbr=on}} per year, while frozen beef exports increased from {{convert|25000|to|365000|MT|ST|abbr=on}} per year,{{sfn|Mosk|1990|pp=88–89}} placing Argentina as one of the world's top five exporters.{{sfn|Cruz|1990|p=10}} Its railway mileage rose from {{convert|503|to|31104|km|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Díaz Alejandro|1970|pp=2–3}} Fostered by a new [[Argentine Law 1420|public, compulsory, free and secular education]] system, [[literacy]] quickly increased from 22% to 65%, a level higher than most [[Latin America]]n nations would reach even fifty years later.{{sfn|Cruz|1990|p=10}} Furthermore, real [[GDP]] grew so fast that despite the huge immigration influx, [[per capita income]] between 1862 and 1920 went from 67% of developed country levels to 100%:{{sfn|Díaz Alejandro|1970|pp=2–3}} In 1865, Argentina was already one of the top 25 nations by per capita income. By 1908, it had surpassed Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands to reach 7th place—behind Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Argentina's per capita income was 70% higher than Italy's, 90% higher than Spain's, 180% higher than Japan's and 400% higher than [[Brazil]]'s.{{sfn|Bolt|Van Zanden|2013}} Despite these unique achievements, the country was slow to meet its original goals of industrialization:{{sfn|Galasso|2011|loc=vol. I|pp=567–625}} after the steep development of capital-intensive local industries in the 1920s, a significant part of the manufacturing sector remained labour-intensive in the 1930s.{{sfn|Lewis|1990|pp=37–38}}

[[File:La conquista del desierto.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Conquest of the Desert]]'', by [[Juan Manuel Blanes]] ''(fragment showing [[Julio Argentino Roca]], at the front, a major figure of the [[Generation of '80]])''<ref>Douglas A. Richmond, "Julio Argentino Roca" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture'', vol. 4 p. 583. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.</ref>]]

Between 1878 and 1884, the so-called [[Conquest of the Desert]] occurred, with the purpose of tripling the Argentine territory by means of the constant confrontations between natives and Criollos in the border,<ref>{{cite book|last=Barros|first=Álvaro|title=Fronteras y territorios federales de las pampas del Sud|publisher=tipos á vapor|year=1872|pages=155–57|language=es}}</ref> and the appropriation of the indigenous territories. The first conquest consisted of a series of military incursions into the Pampa and Patagonian territories dominated by the indigenous peoples,<ref>{{cite book|last=Ras|first=Norberto|title=La guerra por las vacas|publisher=Galerna |location=Buenos Aires |year=2006 |isbn=978-987-05-0539-6|language=es}}</ref> distributing them among the members of the ''Sociedad Rural Argentina'', financiers of the expeditions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/contratapa/13-44426-2004-12-04.html|title=Pulgas y garrapatas|last=Bayer|first=Osvaldo|agency=Página/12|date=4 December 2004|access-date=4 December 2013|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203074349/http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/contratapa/13-44426-2004-12-04.html|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status = live}}</ref> The conquest of Chaco lasted up to the end of the century,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Maeder |first=Ernesto J. A. |publisher=Editorial Plus Ultra |title=Historia del Chaco |year=1997 |isbn=978-950-21-1256-5 |page=105|chapter=VIII|language=es}}</ref> since its full ownership of the national economic system only took place when the mere extraction of wood and [[tannin]] was replaced by the production of [[cotton]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Iñigo Carrera |first=Nicolás |title=La colonización del Chaco |publisher=Centro Editor de América Latina |year=1983 |pages=16–23|isbn=978-950-25-0123-9|language=es}}</ref> The Argentine government considered [[Indigenous peoples in Argentina|indigenous people]] as inferior beings, without the same rights as Criollos and Europeans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://coleccion.educ.ar/coleccion/CD9/contenidos/recursos/pueblos-originarios/breve-historia/index.html|title=Breve historia de los pueblos aborígenes en Argentina|publisher=Ministerio de Educación de Argentina|access-date=20 February 2018|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221021535/http://coleccion.educ.ar/coleccion/CD9/contenidos/recursos/pueblos-originarios/breve-historia/index.html|archive-date=21 February 2018|url-status = dead}}</ref>

In 1912, President [[Roque Sáenz Peña]] enacted [[Saenz Peña Law|universal and secret male suffrage]], which allowed [[Hipólito Yrigoyen]], leader of the [[Radical Civic Union]] (or UCR), to win [[Argentine general election, 1916|the 1916 election]]. He enacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to small farms and businesses. Argentina stayed neutral during [[World War I]]. The second administration of Yrigoyen faced an economic crisis, precipitated by the [[Great Depression]].{{sfn|Galasso|2011|loc=vol. II|pp=7–178}}
[[File:Golpe de Estado en Argentina en 1930.jpg|thumb|Crowds outside the [[Argentine National Congress]] during the [[1930 Argentine coup d'état]] which marked the start of the [[Infamous Decade]]]]

In 1930, Yrigoyen [[1930 Argentine coup d'état|was ousted from power]] by the military led by [[José Félix Uriburu]]. Although Argentina remained among the fifteen richest countries until mid-century,{{sfn|Bolt|Van Zanden|2013}} this [[coup d'état]] marks the start of the steady economic and social decline that pushed the country back into underdevelopment.<ref name=developed>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/2704457|title=Becoming a serious country|newspaper=The Economist|place=London|date=3 June 2004|quote=Argentina is thus not a "developing country". Uniquely, it achieved development and then lost it again.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320033128/http://www.economist.com/node/2704457|archive-date=20 March 2014|url-status = live}}</ref>

Uriburu ruled for two years; then [[Agustín Pedro Justo]] was elected in a [[Argentine general election, 1931|fraudulent election]], and signed a controversial [[Roca-Runciman Treaty|treaty with the United Kingdom]]. Argentina [[Argentina in World War II|stayed neutral during World War II]], a decision that had full British support but was rejected by the United States after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. In 1943 [[Revolution of '43|a military coup d'état]] led by [[Arturo Rawson|General Arturo Rawson]] toppled the democratically elected government of [[Ramón Castillo]]. Under pressure from the United States, later Argentina declared war on the Axis Powers (on 27 March 1945, roughly a month before the [[end of World War II in Europe]]).

During the Rawson dictatorship a relatively unknown military colonel named [[Juan Perón]] was named head of the Labour Department. Perón quickly managed to climb the political ladder, being named Minister of Defence by 1944. Being perceived as a political threat by rivals in the military and the conservative camp, he was forced to resign in 1945, and was arrested days later. He was finally released under mounting pressure from both his base and several allied unions.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|loc=vol. II|pp=181–302}} He would later become president after a landslide victory over the [[Radical Civic Union|UCR]] in the [[1946 Argentine general election|1946 general election]] as the [[Labour Party (Argentina)|Laborioust]] candidate.<ref>Alexander, Robert Jackson. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pCc4QThKRSMC A History of Organized Labor in Argentina]''. Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2003.</ref>